By Bayne Hughes
The Decatur Daily
DECATUR, Ala. — Following another fatality west of Interstate 65 on Alabama 20, Decatur Fire Chief Tony Grande wants the City Council to push for limited access on the road, which has been the scene of numerous accidents.
This short stretch of busy highway has a history of fatal wrecks, including two this month.
“I don’t know what the answer is. That’s not in my pay grade,” Grande said. “But we’ve got to do something.”
On Tuesday, authorities identified Matthew Perry, 23, of New Market, as the victim of Monday’s fatal two-vehicle wreck on Alabama 20 near the I-65 interchange.
Perry was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, said Decatur police Sgt. Mike Cowart.
Ryan Welty, Morgan County 911 director, said dispatch has recorded 32 wrecks in this area since Nov. 30, 2015. Five of those wrecks had entrapment with injuries. Nine were recorded as wrecks with unknown injuries.
Micah Dean, manager of Apple Lane Farms at Bibb Garrett Road and Alabama 20, said speed is the major issue. The posted speed limit is 60 mph, reduced to 50 mph when the highway is wet.
“People just fly through here, especially the motorcycles,” Dean said.
Dean said it appears some people “have trouble gauging the speed of the big trucks. They’re going a lot faster than it looks.”
Many of the wrecks have been from vehicles turning east from Bibb Garrett Road or the Raceway gas station and crossing westbound lanes of Alabama 20. However, Monday’s wreck and a Nov. 4 wreck that killed two Madison County men were not crossover wrecks.
Cowart said it appears Perry was traveling east when he lost control of his vehicle and crossed into the westbound lane where the head-on collision occurred.
In the Nov. 4 wreck, two died when a truck rear-ended another truck in the westbound lanes. The victims were identified as Perry Romine, 38, of Madison, and Darius Collins, 25, of Huntsville.
Seth Burkett, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Transportation, said his department developed a plan when the property south of the highway was in line to become home to Bass Pro Outdoors development.
“When there was a major development planned along Alabama 20, we studied the possibility of extending controlled access from I-565 to U.S. 31, including construction of service roads and an overpass,” Burkett said. “However, the development did not materialize.”
Decatur has had an access management plan for Alabama 20 in this annexed area of Limestone County for about 15 years.
The plan was amended about five years ago when the state conducted a corridor study of Alabama 20 from the Hudson Memorial Bridge to I-65, said Blake McAnally, of Pugh, Wright, McAnally Civil Engineering.
“The goal was controlled access to keep traffic free-flowing because so many people are going to Huntsville-Madison County,” McAnally said.
In 2015, an average of 31,660 vehicles daily used the 5-mile stretch from the north end of the causeway to the interstate. The corridor study was used to justify the Wilson Street/U.S. 31 causeway project that is nearing completion.
Wally Terry, city director of development, said the city initially planned two main access points (at Bibb Garrett and Calvary Assembly of God church) and reduced the number of curb cuts allowed to six on Alabama 20, from the north end of the causeway to I-65. Design work also has been done for a controlled access, six-lane highway with service roads.
But the plan has not been implemented because the area has not developed as quickly as projected and funding continues to be an issue.
McAnally said controlling crossovers on the east of Alabama 20 would be difficult because of the two gas stations and the restaurant.
“Stopping people from turning left would be tough to do,” McAnally said.
Donnie Lane, owner of Apple Lane Farms, said he would oppose any attempts to limit crossovers near his restaurant.
“I don’t know the answer, but you can’t restrict access to Bibb Garrett Road,” Lane said. “The No. 1 thing I see is you need to control the speed.”
Bibb Garrett remains a route that trucks with heavier loads often use to avoid I-65 as they travel north to U.S. 72.
Terry said the city did outlaw left turns for large trucks to Bibb Garrett Road from Alabama 20 as part of the truck route ordinance that went into effect in 2015.
McAnally and Dewayne Hellums, director of the Decatur-area Metropolitan Planning Organization, said there’s little that can be done to slow speed in this area from an engineering standpoint.
“The only real option in controlling speed is by policing,” McAnally said.
Hellums said it would be almost impossible to slow speeds when Alabama 20 is an arterial highway on flat ground through an undeveloped area.
“If you put a (traffic) light, that would create more problems than it solves and just back up traffic from all directions,” Hellums said.
Grande said he would like to see a cement barrier added to Alabama 20 similar to the one just added to the Alabama 20/U.S. 31 causeway or a wire barrier like those the state is installing on interstate medians.
McAnally said the state’s priority has been to place the wire barriers on interstates, but it’s possible Alabama 20 could be put on the list for future wire barriers.
Copyright 2016 The Decatur Daily